411 Box Office Report: Fifty Shades Freed Takes Top Spot, Peter Rabbit Starts Strong

As expected, Fifty Shades Freed reigned atop the box office this weekend. The final film in the Fifty Shades trilogy opened with $38.8 million to claim the #1 spot, right in the $35 million to $40 million that it was predicted to do. That’s down a touch from the $46.6 million that Fifty Shades Darker brought in for its first weekend, though a noticaebly better hold than Darker’s nearly half drop from Fifty Shades of Grey’s monster $85.2 million start in 2015.

The series adaptation of E.L. James’ erotica novels has never been popular with critics, and Freed continued that trend with the worst Rotten Tomatoes score for the franchise yet at just 11%. But this is one of the rare franchises which remain critic-proof and audiences were willing to show up one more time in order to see how the story ends. Those who attended were happy with the film, giving it a B+ CinemaScore. That’s on par with Darker’s B+ and better than Grey’s C+. To no one’s surprise, the audience was largely women at 78%. This franchise is another example of women powering films to the top of the box office, a situation that continued overseas where it added $98.1 million for a $136.9 million worldwide start.

Of course, the question from here is how it holds up. The film seems likelier to follow Darker’s holds than the quick drops of the first film. Without any other romance films opening in the coming weeks, this should weather things well enough and can likely make it above $100 million in the US. Most of the money will come from overseas, and ultimately it will be a hit to close out the series on a $55 million budget and a spendy marketing campaign.

Peter Rabbit opened at #2, stronger than expected with a $25 million start. The Sony Pictures Animation take on the popular kids’ story character was well above the high teens that most pegged it for. Put that up to the strength of Sony’s marketing, a box office that has been largely empty of new options to date and the fact that the film has the best critic score of the weekend (albeit a still mediocre 58%). The opening is around the same number as The Emoji Movie, which bowed to $24.5 million last July.

The Beatrix Potter books are popular around the world, and Peter Rabbit will likely be able to do the same once it starts opening in foreign markets. Right now, things are looking rosy for the film. It saw an impressive 97% increase from Friday to Saturday that should bode well for the film’s word of mouth. Audiences are happy with the film, giving it an A- CinemaScore. At this point, the film seems likely to get at least $80 million domestically. Foreign grosses should push it well into profit on $50 million in production costs.

Clint Eastwood’s latest film didn’t fare as well as its fellow new releases. The 15:17 to Paris landed with a thud at $12.6 million. Early in the week, people were predicting the film to compete with Peter Rabbit for the #2 spot. However, that wasn’t in the cards. There were a lot of reasons for this film’s failure. Eastwood tends to attract an older crowd, both in front of and behind the camera, and those audiences pay more attention to reviews than younger ones. Paris’ 21% RT score wasn’t encouraging. And those who did saw it didn’t like it all that much with a B- CinemaScore. Warner Bros. seemed to anticipate this, as the marketing effort wasn’t strong, as if they were willing to cut their losses to some degree.

Fortunately for the studio, Paris was relatively cheap at $30 million. Whether that will save the film is yet to be seen. It added a paltry $5.3 million in twenty-three markets overseas, giving it a worldwide start of $17.9 million. At this point it seems likely to follow J. Edgar’s trend to around $30 million domestically. International grosses won’t make up the difference here, but this should at least be a light money loser for the studio.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was strong once again despite falling to #4, down just 10% with $9.8 million. The action-comedy now has $365.7 million domestically and $881.8 million worldwide. Of course, this is huge and it should continue on to as high as $380 million domestically. Sony is very happy with this one. The buidget was $90 million.

The Greatest Showman also held strong, down a spot to #5 in its eighth weekend, with $6.4 million. This brings the Hugh Jackman-starrer to $146.5 million domestically and $314.2 million worldwide. Not bad for a film everyone called a bomb in its quiet opening weekend. The movie is aiming for around $165 million domestically and is a money-maker for Fox on an $84 million budget.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is fading away, down 43% in its third weekend. The final film in the young adult franchise scrounged up $6 million, bringing its totals to $49 million domestically and $229.2 million worldwide. While it’s not great news, it is still a hit on a $65 million budget. It should finish off with around $65 million in the US.

Winchester was okay in its second weekend, down 46% to $5.1 million. That’s not bad for a horror film, albeit one that opened quietly. The film is at $17.2 million and should end its run around $28 million. That should be enough for Lionsgate to avoid losing money on it.

The Post was down 33% in its fifth weekend of wide release with $3.5 million. The Steven Spielberg-directed journalism drama now stands at $72.8 million domestically and $123 million worldwide, solid numbers for a $50 million film at this point. It should still be able to hit around $80 million in the US and should be a profitable-enough film for Fox.

Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water was also down 33%, finishing with $3 million. It has domestic total to $49.8 million and a worldwide tally of $74.3 million. The film is still on course for around $70 million in the US and will be a big hit for Fox Searchlight on a $19.5 million budget.

Den of Thieves closed out the top ten with $2.9 million, down 37%. The crime thriller now has $41 million domestically and $57.1 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. It’s on part to make a profit for STX.

Next weekend, all pretenders to the throne make way for Black Panther. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film is targeting a box office of $130 million or higher. Meanwhile, Lionsgate is opening animated film Early Man as counter-programming while Pure Flix is offering up Samson. They should be able to bring in numbers in the low- to mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Fifty Shades Freed – $38.8 million ($38.8 million total)
2. Peter Rabbit – $25 million ($25 million total)
3. The 15:17 to Paris – $12.6 million ($12.6 million total)
4. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – $9.8 million ($365.7 million total)
5. The Greatest Showman – $6.4 million ($146.5 million total)
6. Maze Runner: The Death Cure – $6 million ($49 million total)
7. Winchester – $5.1 million ($17.2 million total)
8. The Post – $3.5 million ($72.8 million total)
9. The Shape of Water – $3 million ($49.8 million total)
10. Den of Thieves – $2.9 million ($41 million total)